Updated August 25, 2021 and partly based on the Wake Forest Planning Department’s June monthly report of plans under review as well as the August town manager’s report.
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In June and July the Wake Forest Inspections Department issued permits for 31 multi-family dwellings (apartment buildings).
In the 12 permits issued to Crestline Construction for Holding Village there will be 10 apartment buildings and two accessory buildings with a total of 320 apartments. Those apartments will be inside the large roundabout caused by the separation of traffic lanes of Franklin Street which will soon stretch from Rogers Road to the N.C. 98 Bypass.
GCI Residential pulled 16 permits for the Legacy Heritage at the intersections of Friendship Chapel Road, Heritage Lake Road and the N.C. 98 Bypass. There will be 308 apartment units.
Greenway Village on South Franklin Street just north of Sheetz will have 182 units. The land had already been approved for apartments so there was no need to rezone. Its builder, C.F. Evans Construction, pulled three permits in July for the project.
Together, three developments were granted permission for 810 apartment units. Planners use 2.85 as the number of persons in a dwelling unit although the real count may be lower for apartments depending on the mix of one-, two- and three-bedrooms. But it will mean an addition of between 1,620 and 2,308 people to Wake Forest’s population.
Along with continued construction of South Franklin Street between Rogers Road and the N.C. 98 Bypass and other streets, Holding Village has begun construction of the 10 apartment buildings and a separate project, the Lakeside townhouses, about 30, near the large pond and the existing pool and cabana building.
Also, Scott Lay with Reader Communities, the Holding Village developer, said, “All the streets will include hardwood street trees; we are a firm advocate of the tree program and all homes will have it just like we did on the south side of the lake.”
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Traditions Grande Care Facility on Gilcrest Farm Road between Del Webb at Traditions and Hawthorne at Traditions is one of the two residential care facilities in planning stages in Wake Forest. Traditions Grande Care Facility will have 119 beds.
The second is planned for the Clara Webb property just south of Lidl and across South Main Street from The Lodge. There is no name attached to it yet. Adjacent properties have been rezoned and will be annexed to make a larger property for the care facility. For the public information about this, see the March 3, 2021 issue of the Gazette, an article titled “New care facility planned for South Main.
Greenway Village at Heritage will be built just north of Sheetz on the east side of South Franklin Street, and it will have access to the Smith Creek Greenway as it runs through the Smith Creek Soccer Center. Graycliff Capital in Greenville, S.C. bought the property for $3.5 million on April 16, 2021, land that was to have been the Franklin Apartments.
The company plans to build a 182-unit apartment building.
The former Wake Forest Country Club has seen no further public action since we learned about a pre-application conference on Feb. 24, 2021, when Laura Holloman with the John R. McAdams Company met with members of the Wake Forest Planning Department staff. E. Carroll Joyner, the owner, has reportedly hired the McAdams firm and Toll Brothers to build 389 townhouses, leaving 19 acres in a nature park named for his deceased wife and 54.5 acres of open space in the Horse Creek floodplain. Information about that conference and a plan for the development of the 147 acres was reported by The Wake Forest Gazette in its March 31, 2021 edition.
Joyner bought the country club property in 2012 for $325,000, according to information in the Wake County website. At that time the Wake County website listed the value at $1,550,400. In 2011 Branch Bank and Trust Company (BB&T) had foreclosed on the property Joel Young had owned since 1974 and it was for sale after that.
In January of this year Joyner transferred ownership of the three country club parcels from his name to a company called Dry Timber that shares his address. Joyner, McAdams and Toll Brothers may be constrained by the planned unit development that former owner Joel Young placed on the land which has the golf course as open space. Planning Department Director Courtney Tanner said plans like that go with the land, not the owner. She also said any changes to the plan must be subject to approval of the Wake Forest Town Board.
Future residential and commercial projects under review
*Newly topping the Planning Department’s June list of plans under review is White Street Townhomes. ITAC 356 LLC, a company owned by David Smoot IV who lives on South Main Street, wants approval of a plan for 79 townhouse lots on eight acres in the southwest quadrant of the intersection of East Holding Avenue and South White Street.
Back in 2016 Smoot wanted to build townhouses on that land, a project he called Holding Corners. In September the then-director of the planning department, Charley Yokley, said there was an issue with the project’s design because “it may not meet the building code.” Work was begun on one single-floor building, halted because of code violations, begun again, halted – this went on for months. The building was completed in 2019 and nothing more was built.
*Rosedale Subdivision (formerly Averette Road Subdivision) Phase 2 is a plan for 66 single-family lots. It is associated with Tryon subdivision. Former Pearce family land, Priest Craven & Associates is the engineer for this.
*Star Road PUD is a plan for both office space – a maximum of 60,000 square feet – and townhouses with a maximum of seven units per acre. The only available plan shows only the lot and the stream buffers. It is on the public hearing schedule for August or September.
*Taco Bell will be a restaurant on Gateway Commons Circle with a drive-thru.
*Mason Oaks Parcel 3 is a plan to build 21 townhouses along Edgemoore Trail.
*Legacy Center Church will be in a 12,400-square-foot building on Rabbit Run Road.
*Holding Village North Lake Phase 9 is a plan for 33 townhouse lots.
*413, 425 and 435 Wait Avenue or Wait Condos calls for a 40-unit condominium apartments with above-ground and underground parking in the block between North Taylor Street and North Franklin Street on Wait Avenue. Two existing houses would be razed. The engineers are Priest, Craven and Associates. The land is owned by PGNC Ventures LLC with offices at 7208 Falls of the Neuse Road. The site is 1.55 acres. The plan was approved by the Wake Forest Town Board on May 18, 2021.
*Thales Academy will be an elementary and secondary school on Wait Avenue (N.C. 98) at its intersection with Averette Road. It has been approved by the Wake Forest Town Board.
*Forest on Franklin will be 12 townhouse lots on North Franklin Street.
*Foundation Drive Apartments is at least the second proposal to build on the drive that also leads to Heritage High School. The page for this in the town’s interactive development map is not available, but it is planned for 48 units.
*Radford Glen has been approved by the Wake Forest Town Board for 165 single-family lots on Wait Avenue.
*Patronies Pizza will be a 5,838-square-foot restaurant on Crenshaw Corners Drive.
*Quail Crossing on Wait Avenue just to the east of Radford Glen is planned for 254 rental multi-family units by Middleburg Communities and their engineering firm, the McAdams Company. The sale by owner George Mackie is contingent on a rezoning for mixed-use residential.
This is currently a mobile home park until recently named Wellington Mobile Home Park with affordable site rent ($300 a month) that has been home to 47 families who will be left with few options if the rezoning is approved by the Wake Forest Planning and Town boards in September.
*Carolina Chimney will be in a 1,925-square-foot building on North White Street.
*Grove 98 North is a plan for 354 multi-family units on the north side of the N.C. 98 Bypass with a commercial section. It is part of the Wegmans large development.
*Traditions Townhomes will be 37 townhouse lots on Traditions Grande Boulevard that have been approved by the town board.
*Hawthorne at Traditions will be 272 apartments on Gilcrest Farm Road. It has been approved by the town board.
*Traditions Grande Care Facility on Gilcrest Farm Road between Del Webb at Traditions and Hawthorne at Traditions will be a residential care facility with 119 beds.
*JP Morgan Chase Bank will be in a 3,298-square-foot building on Ligon Mill Road near or at its intersection with the N.C. 98 Bypass.
*Casa Esperenza Montessori Charter school wants to build a school with 49,490-square-feet for elementary and secondary students on Star Road. It has been approved by the town.
*Roasted and Toasted Coffee is a plan for a restaurant on Gateway Commons Circle in Gateway Commons shopping center.
*Infrastructure plans for Raleigh Water to replace and repair water lines along multiple town streets; the realignment of Averette Road; an off-site water line on Averette Road; and the extension of Friendship Chapel Road, now a deadend road, into the Holding Village subdivision,
Approved residential projects not under construction
*Hawthorne at Traditions is on Gilcrest Farm Road and Royal Mill Avenue. It will have 272 units in two four-story buildings. Its subdivision and master plans were approved by the town board in April.
*Legacy Center Church will build a 12,400-square-foot church on Rabbit Run Road.
*Thales Academy on Wait Avenue (N.C. 98) at the intersection of Averette Road has been approved by the Wake Forest Town Board. The school for elementary and secondary students will have 37,151 square feet.
*Forest on Franklin is planned for 12 townhouses facing Franklin Street on the east side of the street. The Wake Forest Board of Commissioners approved the plan on April 20. The master plan was submitted by The Nau Company for 2.105 acres zoned urban mixed use.
*Radford Glen has been approved for construction by the town commissioners and its annexation request was on the May 18 agenda. On the south side of Wait Avenue, it will have 165 single-family lots.
*Grove 98 North is part of the larger Wegmans development that includes the new grocery store. It will have 354 units of multifamily housing on the north side of the N.C. 98 Bypass and some commercial.
*Traditions Townhomes on Traditions Grande Boulevard is planned for 37 townhouses. It was approved by the Wake Forest Planning Board and then by the Wake Forest Town Board on May 18, 2021.
*Holding Village North Lake Phases 5-8 along South Franklin Street are planned for 208 single-family lots and 156 townhouse lots. The developer will also be constructing the new section of South Franklin Street which will meet the N.C. 98 Bypass.
There is still more development planned and possible in Holding Village. Wake Forest Assistant Planning Director Jennifer Currin said the planning department has also received construction drawings for the Holding Village apartments. In addition, “There is also a portion of a parcel north of Friendship Baptist Church, adjacent to the Bypass, and a smaller tract off S. Franklin St. that are part of Holding Village and could be developed.” The trees have been felled and heavy construction that includes the extension of South Franklin Street is underway for this and the apartments.
*Radford Glen was approved by the Wake Forest Town Board on Sept. 15, 2020 for 167 single-family homes and 10 townhouses. The Sept. 2, 2020 edition of the Gazette has a full description of the subdivision. It is on the south side of Wait Avenue immediately east of the Deerfield Crossing (formerly Wellington) Mobile Home Park.
*Rosedale/Averette subdivision will have 890 homes on both sides of Averette Road. It is an extension of the Tryon subdivision.
*Kinsley on both sides of North Main Street, 203 acres with 274 single-family lots and 450 townhouse lots – 724 in all – was approved by the Wake Forest commissioners on Feb. 9, 2021. This is a somewhat smaller version of the subdivision than was originally proposed, but the amount of affordable townhouses remains the same.
*Royal Mill Apartments is planned for 96 apartments in four three-story walk-up buildings with one building for three townhouses all on 6.3 acres at the southeast corner of the Royal Mill Avenue and Flaherty Avenue.
Residential projects being constructed
*Kitchin Farms Phase 2B on Burlington Mills and Ligon Mill roads for 123 single-family lots. The master plan has been approved.
*Meridian Rogers Branch Apartments on Rogers Branch Road is planned for 264 units. The Wake Forest Town Board has approved this project. Building permits have been approved.
*Legacy Heritage, an apartment complex of 308 units at the N.C. 98 Bypass, Heritage Lake Road and Friendship Chapel Road, was approved by the town board in 2019. There has been blasting to take out the granite, tree clearing and substantial site preparation. Building permits were issued in April 2021.
*Holding Village South Lake Phase 4 along South Franklin Street is for 25 single-family lots.
*Holding Village North Lake Phases 5-8 along South Franklin Street are planned for 208 single-family lots and 156 townhouse lots. The developer will also be constructing the new section of South Franklin Street which will meet the N.C. 98 Bypass.
There is still more development planned and possible in Holding Village. Currin said the planning department has also received construction drawings for the Holding Village apartments. In addition, “There is also a portion of a parcel north of Friendship Baptist Church, adjacent to the Bypass, and a smaller tract off S. Franklin St. that are part of Holding Village and could be developed.”
*Holding Village Apartments on Friendship Chapel Road plans 320 units.
*Crenshaw Trace will be a four-story apartment building on Durham Road with 68 units for people 55 and older who will not have to pay more than 30 percent of their income for rent.
*Everly amendment for the subdivision on Stephen Taylor Road to increase the plan to 173 lots.
*A building permit has been issued for the St. Catherine of Siena Parsonage at 600 West Holding Avenue.
*Devon Square on Capital Boulevard with a second entrance on Harris Road was approved by the Wake Forest Town Board on April 17, 2019 by an unusual three to two vote with Mayor Vivian Jones voting in Commissioner Liz Simpers absence. It will have 148 townhouses and an unspecified amount of commercial nearest Capital Boulevard, as well as 40 single-family homes in back. There are 68 acres and the plan includes a 50-foot naturally wooded buffer between the single-family residential section and E. Carroll Joyner Park.
*Greenway Village at Heritage on South Franklin Street has been approved for 188 apartments.
*Siena Drive Phase 1 & 2 Revisions is for a townhouse development with 96 units.
*Brewer Circle subdivision calls for nine lots.
*Forest Pines Retirement Community on Royall Cotton Road is a 130-unit apartment complex.
*Tryon Phases 10 & 11 on Copper Beech Lane plans for 35 single-family lots.
Commercial or institutional projects being constructed
*Wake Forest High School Stadium, Trentini Stadium, will be renovated by BAR Construction Company, which was the low bidder at $6.6 million of six bidders when the Wake County Board of Education put the put out the project for bid. BAR will demolish and replace the existing grandstands, athletic field and track. The track will also be brought to current standards and existing drainage problems will be addressed.
The target date for completion is March 2022.
The stadium began life as Groves Stadium for Wake Forest College. It was named for a donor, completed in 1940 and could hold 20,000 people. Trentini Stadium is named for Anthony Trentini, a Wake Forest College football player 1952-1959 and the coach of the Wake Forest High School football team 1959-1963.
*The Loading Dock, a co-working facility in the former warehouse at 525 South White Street, is under construction. It was built as an office and warehouse for the W.W. Holding Cotton Company and is owned by Bob and Elizabeth Johnson.
*Heritage Corner in the northwest corner of South Franklin Street and Rogers Road across from Sheetz will be two two-story buildings with commercial uses in the first story and office space in the second story.
*The Tru Hotel on Wake Union Church Road and Hampton Way Drive was at a standstill – red clay, a couple pieces of equipment – for months but Novel Construction has finally pulled the permit which had been languishing in the Wake Forest Inspections Department.
*1628 South Main Street is being built by Marlowe Construction of Raleigh, its owner, and will be a two-story building facing South Main with its entrance from Forbes Road. The building will have commercial uses on the first floor and office space on the second floor. It will be named the Marlowe Building.
*A Wake Forest food hall, future name unknown, is planned for the second warehouse on South White Street.
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3 Responses
Let us protect some of the forest and limit the growth. Once the horizontal town limits are filled, there is no place to go but up. I for one do not want to see high rise apartment/condominium buildings in Wake Forest. Maintaining some beauty will make the town more desirable…not less so. That means NOT cutting down every tree you can find. I did some math before where I analyzed the amount of undeveloped land in the Town/ETJ and found there was only 20% of the land left undeveloped. Continuing the current growth rate will put an additional 50,000 people into that 20% of available land in the next 5 years. People go to a park for fresh air; open space, exercise; to walk/exercise their dogs; and let the children run free and play. Packing people into small spaces generates friction and anxiety. Increasing traffic adds to stress obviously but adds to the cost of commuting and decreases quality of life as one has to rise earlier to get to the normal destination on time. More time, more gas, more air pollution, more accidents, more road rage. Los Angelinos can speak to this effect as can any other resident of large cities. Keep some of paradise and let the developers move on to another area.
Carol. Thank you for your reporting. The number of apartment buildings going up in our town is unreal. Traffic is already terrible on South Main, Rogers Road, Capital Blvd and the 98 Bypass.. What a joke to call that a bypass. I can see our streets in grid lock in ,the very near future. What, if any are the plans to build roads to handle all the traffic from the apartments? The worst part is that everywhere i drive I see mounds of dirt and bulldozers where our forest used to be. I am sure I am not the only one saddened by this reckless growth.
It’s awful. Not the quaint little town I used to know. They should change the name to Wake Up.